Extreme Weather Events Likely Linked to Warming, IPCC Says

A draft report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says there is a 2-in-3 probability that human-caused climate change is already leading to an increase in extreme weather events. The draft summary, obtained by the Associated Press, said that increasingly wild weather, such as the downpours that have caused recent extreme flooding in Thailand, will lead to a growing toll in lost lives and property damage, and will render some locations “increasingly marginal as places to live.” The report says scientists are “virtually certain” that continued warming will cause not only an increase in extreme heat waves and drought in some regions, but will generate more intense downpours that lead to severe flooding. The report, which wades into the contentious subject of whether climate change is already causing more extreme weather, will be issued in several weeks in advance of global climate talks to be held in South Africa next month.